Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from a 4th straight win in Phoenix

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24 MIN, 5 PTS, 2-for-7 (1-for-5), 2 REB, 1 AST, 4 PF, 2 TO, +5. PF. Brooklyn Nets. JARED DUDLEY. C

Jared Dudley probably didn’t have the game he would have liked in his return to Phoenix, but he didn’t play poorly.

Yes, there was the first half pass to The Notorious N.I.P. (no one in particular) and he didn’t shoot it terribly well, but he was doing all the little things he does — keeping the ball moving, boxing out and getting a break on defense when the Suns forgot they had Ryan Anderson playing for them.

It’s not flashy, but coach Kenny Atkinson believes in what he brings to the table.

JARRETT ALLEN. A-. 24 MIN, 10 PTS, 4-for-7 (0-for-1), 9 REB (2 ORB), 5 AST, 2 PF, 1 STL, 1 TO, 1 BLK, +13. C. Brooklyn Nets

OK, so Jarrett Allen tying for the team lead in assists in a game was unexpected.

But it’s also a testimonial to how much he’s improved in terms of court awareness and confidence when he passes the ball. Allen has gotten so much better at reading what is there and delivering the ball where it needs to be that he almost doesn’t look like the same player as last season.

Defensively, he followed the game plan of letting rookie Deandre Ayton have the deep mid-range jumper and the kid obliged by firing up brick after brick. The few times Ayton got the ball down low, his size was a problem for Allen, but Phoenix didn’t go back to it often.

Allen is also getting better with his box outs and is getting more rebounds as a result.